Center City: A Novel

Marvin Robinson and his brother, Carlton Robinson, take great pride in having become successful industrial businessmen despite the many discouraging obstacles they had to overcome. Neither of the brothers was particularly gifted athletically or academically. Without financial support from parents who held only powerless positions in Philadelphia’s lower-class culture, the brothers seemed predestined to remain contained within its social limitations. Although genetic motivation to “work hard for what you want” was a Robinson family trait that went back for generations, it often went depressed in early life. Nevertheless, once their ambition is sparked, goals blaze and must be quenched to satisfaction. This is the continuing story of two typical inner-city brothers, and explores how they triumph over and interact with the complexities of a rapidly changing society that challenge them.